1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device which is provided for disinfecting, sterilizing and/or maintaining medical instruments. In particular, dental instruments are to be conditioned with the device.
2. Related Technology
Medical or dental handpieces are tubular parts which the doctor holds as a handle during treatment. A handpiece conventionally used in dental practice is a so-called drill handpiece, which carries a treatment tool, in particular a drill, at its forward end and is coupled at its rear end to a supply hose by means of a coupling. Supply lines for power for driving the treatment instrument, as well as fluid lines for treatment media, for example air and/or water, extend through the handpiece. A distinction is often made between so-called turbine handpieces, in which compressed air is provided for supplying a turbine arranged in the forward end region, and so-called motor handpieces, which have an electric motor as the drive unit.
In order to maintain the function of the handpieces, maintenance, in particular of the rotatably mounted drive elements, is required from time to time. Furthermore, ever increasing hygiene demands in dental practice mean that handpieces have to be conditioned at regular intervals. Successful conditioning and compliance with the corresponding requirements must be fully documented by the dentist, which involves a not inconsiderable outlay in terms of personnel and organization.
Manual reconditioning of dental handpieces has hitherto been carried out by first disinfecting the instruments by spraying and washing them externally after use on a patient. Cleaning of the interior of the instruments, on the other hand, was generally not carried out. In the meantime, however, cleaning and disinfecting devices in which the instruments are conditioned before being subjected to maintenance with oil have become available on the market. Machine conditioning has clear advantages over manual maintenance of the instruments, because only a machine process permits reliable and reproducible cleaning and maintenance.
However, the devices known hitherto can generally be used only for individual conditioning steps, so that cleaning, maintenance and sterilization must each be carried out separately. All the devices required therefor take up a relatively large amount of space, and electrical, pneumatic and fluid connections are required for each of the devices. Consequently, the performance of a complete machine conditioning of dental instruments by means of individual devices is very laborious and is associated with a high outlay in terms of cost.
A further disadvantage is that the individual devices are generally not linked with one another, so that there can be no exchange of data between the devices. This in turn leads to extra work for the operating personnel, because it is not possible to prepare fully automatic documentation of instrument conditioning. Furthermore, the instruments must be moved manually from device to device in intermediate steps, which is associated with intensive personnel use and a large time requirement.
For the reasons mentioned above, increasing use has recently been made of devices or systems which allow complete conditioning of a dental instrument. Such devices carry out different measures in succession in order to condition the instruments, for which they make use of very different media. For example, cleaning agents, disinfectants and maintenance and compressed air are used in order to achieve complete reconditioning of the instruments. This necessarily requires the presence of a system for distributing and making available very different media.
Solutions known hitherto are based on the distribution of the individual media to the instruments by corresponding solenoid valve blocks. Such a solution is associated with a comparatively high outlay and consequently also with corresponding costs.